Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Beware of Power Absolute, Unshared

July 9, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Bastille Day, which is celebrated on July 14.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com .

A Bastille Day poem about the dangers of absolute power even in the hands of those who wish to do good:

Beware of power absolute, unshared,
As you pursue the ends that are your passion.
So why might one, as sovereign, choose to ration
The power one might summon unimpaired?
In doing so, one sees what one might be:
Like those whose ends were good, but means were not;
Like those who hoped that blood might sweep the rot
Encrusted on their longings out to sea.
Desperate to do good, some would, unchecked,
Appropriate the world they would perfect.
Yet evil knows no ideology.

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/bewar4.html. For more Bastille Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/bastilledaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Bastille Day
7/9: Beware of Power Absolute, Unshared

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